1. Field
One embodiment of the present invention relates to an electronic device which is provided with a coordinate input device such as a touch pad.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, in a notebook personal computer, a touch pad functioning as a coordinate input device is provided on the top surface of the body casing as a pointing device. In usual cases, the touch pad is disposed at a substantially central part on the front side of the keyboard. The enhancement in usability of the touch pad can be expected by increasing the area of the touch pad. However, the size of the touch pad is limited so as not to interfere with the key input. Specifically, if the area of the touch pad is increased, it is highly possible that the hand unintentionally comes in contact with the touch pad when key input is executed on the keyboard. In this case, a process, which is not intended by user, is executed in accordance with the input from the touch pad, leading to degradation in operability. For example, if the hand comes in contact with the touch pad during key input while a word processing operation is being performed by using the keyboard, the pointer (mouse cursor) on the screen shifts and the character input position moves.
In conventional personal computers, in order to cope with a problem occurring when the hand unintentionally comes in contact with the touch pad, the input from the touch pad is disabled, for example, during the key input. Thereby, even if the hand unintentionally comes in contact with the touch pad, unintentional movement of the cursor during the key input is prevented (see, e.g. Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. H10-133796).
As described above, in the conventional personal computer, the entire touch pad is disabled during the key input. Thereby, even if the hand comes in contact with the touch pad during the key input, a process, which is not intended by the user, is prevented from being executed.
However, in the control on the touch pad in the prior art, since the entire touch pad is disabled during the key input, the user cannot intentionally use the pointing function while performing the key input. For example, during the key input, operations using the touch pad, such as clicking, double-clicking and drag-and-drop, cannot be executed, and the operations using the touch pad cannot effectively be utilized.